National crime statistics aim to provide indicators of the level and nature of crime victimisation in Australia and a basis for assessing change over time. When an incident of crime victimisation occurs, there are a number of ways in which this can be measured and a number of stages where a measurement can be taken; from the time that a person perceives they have been a victim through to reporting to police and the laying of charges. From among a range of possible ways of measuring crime, there are two major sources of statistics produced by the ABS that can inform the user about crime victimisation. The first of these is a measure of crimes reported to and recorded by police; the second is direct reports from members of the public about their experiences of crime as collected in household surveys conducted by the ABS. Neither of these sources will provide a definitive measure of crime victimisation, but together they provide a more comprehensive picture of victimisation than either measure alone. Both sources have a number of limitations, however, of which users should be aware.

Recorded crime statistics are the result of incidents coming to police attention and a subsequent decision-making process carried out by police in accordance with the criminal law. As such they are subject to different legislation, rules of operation and procedures in different jurisdictions. Fluctuations in recorded crime may also be a reflection of changes in community attitudes to reporting crime rather than a change in the incidence of criminal behaviour.

A complementary picture of the nature and extent of crime comes from crime victimisation surveys. One of the primary reasons for conducting victimisation surveys is that many victims of crime do not report their experiences to the police, and therefore are not counted in police data. Victimisation surveys provide information about the broader community experience of crime, including the volume of crime that is not officially recorded. Crime victimisation surveys are suitable for measuring crimes against individuals (or households) who are aware of and recall the incident and how it happened, and who are willing to relate what they know. These surveys allow crime information to be related to personal and household characteristics, and facilitate the study of patterns of victimisation over time and across crime categories. Not all types of crime are suitable for measurement by household surveys. No reliable victim-based information can be obtained about crimes where there is no specific victim (e.g. trafficking in narcotics) or where the victim is deceased (e.g. murder). Crimes of which the victim may not be aware cannot be measured effectively; some instances of fraud and many types of attempted crimes fall into this category. The results from the latest Crime Victimisation Survey, conducted by the ABS from July 2008 to June 2009, were not available at the time of writing.

The ABS recorded crime victims collection produces national statistics on incidents of victimisation for a selected range of household and personal offences that come to the attention of state and territory police during a calendar year. The collection includes information about the characteristics of the victim and the nature of the criminal incidents.

Compared to 2007, the number of victims recorded by Australian state and territory police agencies in 2008 decreased for robbery, attempted murder and motor vehicle theft, as well as for unlawful entry with intent and blackmail/extortion. The offence categories recording the largest declines were robbery (down 8% or 1,488 victims) and attempted murder (down 6% or 15 victims). Conversely, there was an increase in the number of victims of kidnapping/abduction and manslaughter (both up 7% or 49 victims and 2 victims respectively). Murder and other theft also increased during this period (table 13.4).

13.4 VICTIMS(a), By selected offences

2007

2008

no.

no.

Murder

255

260

Attempted murder

246

231

Manslaughter

28

30

Kidnapping/abduction(b)

733

782

Robbery

17 996

16 508

Armed robbery

7 657

6 716

Unarmed robbery

10 339

9 792

Blackmail/extortion(c)

424

418

Unlawful entry with intent

248 475

241 690

Property theft

173 374

168 936

Other

75 101

72 754

Motor vehicle theft(d)

70 614

68 270

Other theft

491 935

496 697

(a) As recorded by police in all jurisdictions. Depending on the type of offence recorded, a victim may be a person, a premise, an organisation or a motor vehicle.

(b) Counts for New South Wales may be inflated slightly due to the inclusion of 'deprivation of liberty' which is out of scope of this collection.

In 2008, the Australian person victimisation rates for selected personal offence categories were:

Murder, 1.2 victims per 100,000 persons

Attempted murder, 1.1 victims per 100,000 persons

Kidnapping/abduction, 3.6 victims per 100,000 persons

Robbery, 67 victims per 100,000 persons

Blackmail/extortion, 1.9 victims per 100,000 persons (table 13.6).

Some household crimes continued a declining trend in victimisation. Motor vehicle theft (319 victims per 100,000 persons) had the lowest rate since national reporting began in 1993 (637 victims per 100,000 persons). The victimisation rate for unlawful entry with intent decreased from 1,182 victims per 100,000 in 2007 to 1,131 victims per 100,000 persons in 2008.

Age and sex of victims

During 2008, males were more likely to be a victim of murder than females, with 1.5 victims per 100,000 males compared to 0.9 victims per 100,000 females. The largest difference was in the 15 to 19 year age group, where males were four times more likely to be victims of murder than females. The only age group where females had a higher victimisation rate than males was for those aged 65 years and over.

Females were more likely to be victims of kidnapping/abduction than males. The age group with the highest victimisation rate for females was 10 to 14 year olds (18 victims per 100,000 females), followed by 15 to 19 year olds (13 victims per 100,000 females).

The offence which had the highest victimisation rate for all persons was robbery, with the 15 to 19 year old age group recording the largest rate (243 victims per 100,000 persons). Males were over four times more likely to be victims of robbery between the ages of 15 and 19 than females (table 13.6).

13.6 VICTIMISATION RATES OF SELECTED CRIMES(a)(b) -2007-08

Offence category

Age group (years)

Murder

Attempted murder

Kidnapping/abduction

Robbery(c)

Blackmail/extortion(c)

MALES

0-9

0.8

0.7

4.0

1.4

0.2

10-14

0.4

-

9.9

83.2

-

15-19

1.7

1.5

6.4

384.5

2.4

20-24

1.9

3.4

5.2

309.3

4.1

25-34

2.0

2.8

2.7

146.3

3.5

35-44

1.6

2.5

1.5

65.8

4.1

45-54

2.6

1.6

0.9

50.4

3.1

55-64

1.5

0.5

0.5

30.8

2.0

65 and over

0.6

0.5

-

14.7

1.4

Total(d)

1.5

1.5

2.8

98.6

2.4

FEMALES

0-9

0.5

0.3

5.7

0.7

0.3

10-14

0.4

0.4

18.2

20.0

-

15-19

0.4

0.6

13.0

93.1

2.2

20-24

1.3

1.3

8.3

95.4

2.7

25-34

1.4

1.3

4.4

57.5

1.8

35-44

1.5

0.8

2.0

29.9

1.8

45-54

0.8

-

0.6

27.1

1.4

55-64

0.5

-

0.6

19.4

1.2

65 and over

1.0

0.3

-

13.2

0.2

Total(d)

0.9

0.6

4.4

34.5

1.3

PERSONS(e)

0-9

0.6

0.5

4.8

1.1

0.3

10-14

0.4

0.2

13.9

52.4

-

15-19

1.1

1.0

9.6

243.0

2.3

20-24

1.6

2.4

6.7

204.9

3.4

25-34

1.7

2.1

3.5

102.5

2.7

35-44

1.5

1.6

1.7

47.9

2.9

45-54

1.7

0.8

0.7

38.9

2.2

55-64

1.0

0.2

0.5

25.1

1.6

65 and over

0.8

0.4

-

14.0

0.7

Total(d)

1.2

1.1

3.6

66.6

1.9

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

(a) Victims per 100,000 persons.

(b) As recorded by police in all jurisdictions.

(c) Refers to person victims only and therefore does not include organisations as victims.

In 2008, a weapon was used in 79% of attempted murders, 67% of murders and 41% of robberies. A knife was the most common type of weapon used in committing these offences; 31% of attempted murder, 34% of murder, and 19% of robbery victims were subjected to an offence using a knife.

A firearm was involved in nearly a third (30%) of attempted murders, 12% of murders and 6% of robbery offences.

Just over half (53%) of kidnapping/abduction and robbery (59%) offences committed did not involve the use of a weapon (table 13.7).